Tuesday, May 27, 2014

In 1838, Henry Troemner, a German immigrant in Philadelphia,
established a company for manufacturing precision weights. Today the company, headquartered
in West Deptford, New Jersey, produces a variety of weights and precisely
calibrated laboratory equipment. The main About Us page (“About Troemner”) is here.

OVERALL GRADE: D

The link to About Troemner is under “Reference
Center” in the footer of each page – not necessarily the most logical place to
look for it. The About page has a submenu of 19 items, the most important of
which should also appear under “Reference Center”: e.g., Accreditations, FAQ,
and Contact Us.

Products/Services: C

The Company
Overview has 3 subheads: “The Troemner Advantage” (on what they produce and
why they do it so well), “Troemner’s Beginning” (how the company achieved its
eminent position), and “Troemner Today.” The third section is particularly good
because it includes links to pages devoted to Troemner’s calibration services
and equipment. Clicking a button expands the text of each section. If the button
instead took visitors to a separate page, Troemner could incorporate more
images and make the text more enticing.

As passionate historians, we have to ask: Why is there only
one mention of the fact that the company was established in 1838? Few American
companies boast such a long corporate history. A timeline focusing on Troemner’s
company history and innovations, with archival illustrations, would be a great
addition to the site. A company that had a part in the Gold Rush should boast
about it! Did Troemner really let its 175th business anniversary go
uncelebrated?

One issue that’s particularly noticeable on the Company Overview page is
the disdain for the Humble Hyphen and the Common Comma. Many readers will trip
over “The Troemner staff includes on premises, industry recognized metrologists”;
“on-premises, industry-recognized metrologists” would have made the sentence
easy to grasp. There’s also a lack of attention to word choice. The page says, “Troemner
is capable of providing unmatched measurements.” “Is capable of” sounds as if
they don’t always; “unmatched measurements” suggests not that the accuracy is
unrivalled, but that the measurements can’t be replicated. Our Commandment 9
of About Us pages is, “Worship clarity.” These errors suggest inattention
to detail—a regrettable first impression for a company renowned for precision.

Personality: E

Our Commandment 3
of About Us pages is, “Reveal thy personality.” We get no sense that
Troemner has one. The only person mentioned by name on the company site is
Henry Troemner, the company founder, and he gets only three sentences. If the
current management doesn’t want to be front and center on the site, then the
About Us pages should play up the fact that Mr. Troemner’s standards still rule
the company. And surely its workers must have some interesting corporate
stories to share. A company with Troemner’s longevity and specificity is likely
to attract lifetime employees who love the art and science of what they do.

Accessibility: C

The foot of each page offers Troemner’s telephone, email,
and mailing address. The Contact
page offers the same, plus a Human Resources contact and contacts for direct
sales offices, by region. Nothing innovative here, but this is adequate.

TAKEAWAY

Even a company whose focus is on mechanical perfection can
benefit from some human stories: give your company personality through its business
history.

Does your Web site’s “About Us” section
accurately convey your organization’s history and capabilities? Every two weeks
we evaluate one example, grading it in three areas that are key to potential
customers: Personality (Who are you?), Products/Services (What can you do for
us?), and Accessibility (How can we reach you?). To talk about your About Us
page, contact us!

Today’s example was chosen at random;
CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company.

CorporateHistory.net can help you turn your company history into an effective and beautiful book, DVD, Web site, keynote speech, or campaign. Whether you want to celebrate a company anniversary, honor a retiring CEO, or strategize your corporate storytelling, CorporateHistory.net can help. We believe organizations suffer when their memory erodes, just as people do. Your institutional memory is a stranded asset until you put it to work. Then it becomes a powerful, cost-effective tool for marketing, community relations, and employee pride.Please visit our website:http://www.corporatehistory.net/